DING.

Adaptable. Humans may not be the most gifted among sapient life forms, nor are they one of the weaker species gifted with accelerated birth cycle and growth. Their evolution had placed them right in the middle; with a bit of talent, great adaptability, and above average population, they are equipped with the potential to flourish due to the select few who managed to grow outstandingly. It is quantity breeds quality in a nutshell. +1 free stat point every odd level

Metamorphosible Mana. Mana has always been accommodating to change. Your mana, instead, is levels above and beyond that. They'll be the elements in the palm of your hands or the roof over your head and sometimes even the cold metalic death of your enemies. They are essentially the products of your design

Immortal Mind. Time begets growth and change, immortality begets unlimited growth. Your mind is its own universe. Small bonus to mental stats, assists spell and skill comprehension, raises total mana pool and regeneration

Memory Vault. The treasure of the mind is best kept safe-y safe-st. Set or unset selected memories into memory vaults to make them fresh forever. Vault number limited by your mind. A vault may only contain one memory

"Ohhh". They all sound amazing!

No idea how many generations of good karma I had to sacrifice in exchange for those three to fall onto my laps, but I accept gratefully! 'Thank you!' On second thought, I also voiced appreciation towards the blue box.

These traits definitely put me on the path of some kinda mage-crafter build. Although I have always preferred more of a magic DPS build—less crafting stuff, kinda MMO gamer. Then again, on single player Open World RPG games like Skyrim; we can also be the one to craft maxed quality enchanted gears while also being the overpowered MC to use them.

Hmm~. I like the thought of that!

Now, lets experiment with using man–

"HELPPP!" A loud scream tore through my bedroom walls, loud enough to penetrate the enclosed room. "NOO–AAHHHHHH".

The scream had me jump off my bed and rushing straight towards the nearby window. On a hunch, I took a peek rather than stand right by the window which would've potentially exposed me to whatever is making the commotion outside.

Rats!—pun intended—I couldn't spot the screamer, but more rats are clearly visibly running around on the streets, attacking anyone who is unfortunate enough to be outside. Most of them disheveled or wearing dirtied clothes, did they fall asleep on the ground..?

It would explain all the panic and confusion, imagine going out for some fun then BAM, all of a sudden you find yourself lying on the ground with a blue box shoved up your nose and rats nipping at your exposed skin.

Like, massive rats!

Hmm, could I – 'inspect'.

DING.

Giant Rats lv 2.

Rats evolved by the sudden appearance of mana. Still, they were nothing special as rats and they are still nothing special now, just bigger rats. At least they're relatively healthy and well off as far as rats can be.

Skill level up, Sneaking 1 > 2

I tried to Inspect several more of them; the furthest ones gave me no system popup, while the closer ones that do, are just replicas of the first entry. My experience from years of gaming tells me that there is a range limit on the skill, interesting, but again, shelved for future me. For now, I spot my neighbors panic sprinting straight for their door, under pursuit by several of these Giant Rats.

Skill level up, Inspect 3 > 4

I picked up my baseball bat from its usual spot near my door and glanced at my bedside alarm, more out of habit. 8.32 AM. It's only been about thirty minutes since all this craziness, not even half to the number of hours I had expected I'd spend perusing my status come to pass… At the sight of more rats, the crunch of the previous's skull giving away under my swings flashed through my mind. True that the act of killing pests is quite the norm around here—using traps and poison! Not cold weapons... I snap myself out of that line of thought with a force of will. Later!

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Wrenching open the bedroom door had me jumping through the rat's corpse, past my ravaged breakfast and before my housing's door within moments. Deliberately being extra cautious this time; scouting the perimeter by first peeking out of the door through a small gap soon confirmed the coast is clear.

The second floor of our boarding house holds the cheaper smaller units for single occupants or more frugal individuals. The ground floor on the other hand has pricier, bigger units; family homes. Henry and Jennifer – the couple currently on the run outside – wanted more space, and had the means to afford the rent. So there they are occupying one. The owner has a total of 4 ground floor units and 6 of the smaller second floor units in this building alone.

Running to and then down the stairs by virtue of muscle memory allowed me to make good time. With plenty of time for several quick glances to keep track of my neighbor's and my position. There are definitely more than three rats after them, an exact count is impossible. The giant rodents are weaving around, under and above all obstacles along their way.

The beginning of a plan was starting to form in my mind when I saw the opened double gates—Henry, that brain for muscle! Decided now was a good time to take a trip down the lane, literally. So Jen, always the perfect image of a girlfriend, was—without a shadow of a doubt—expecting this. Simultaneously, the boyfriend yelped while the girlfriend spun around with a flourish and was all primed for combat, already in the opening form of a kata, one amazing looking katana miraculously equipped in the blink of an eye. Any plan I may have thought of wilted as I mindlessly rushed towards them, hoping to help... They're good people but sometimes, I question, what does she see in him?

Who am I kidding of course she sees his 173cm tall brain.

"Want some salt with your concrete Hen?" I japed, coming to a stop beside him and offering my ungeared left hand.

"Figures all we need is an apocalypse for you to finally put that bat to use eh, Zen". Came a response from the katana-wielding eurasian, after she briefly glanced behind her at the sound of my voice, her boyfriend currently busy using me as leverage to get himself upright, "eh, thought it WAS the apocalypse when I saw him brought it home" added the japanese programer, now back on his feet.

"Well, it's possible that day probably led to this". I grinned and pointed the more dangerous half of my bat at the approaching rats, prompting the two to stifle their laugh. Time for pest extermination. It's us or them now!

We're at a disadvantage as the rats surround us five to three. Jen, on account of putting herself between Henry and the rats while he is still enjoying his unsalted breakfast, ended up taking the vanguard. The boyfriend scurried up and positioned himself to her left, so I'm left—ha! With the right. Honestly, I don't like our chances.

Observing the opponents, they are spread in a loose semicircle around us. A little closer to Jennifer due to our current formation, and most are looking waryly at the katana in her hands. This quiet afforded me the chance to inspect all five rats, which as expected resulted in nothing new, all level 2s.

"Got a plan?" I decided to chance a question.

Shriekkkk!

…

Which triggered their offense. Darn it!

All five rushes at our vanguard, jen. But one each turned their charge towards me and Henry—who now holds a, is that an umbrella?—when we involved ourselves in the melee by stepping forward. I forced myself to focus, catching a glimpse of the remains of a rat that's cleanly split in two still falling towards the ground in between my eyes moving from the umbrella to finding my opponent.

On account of my earlier confrontation. I positioned my bat a little higher in a two handed grip, ready for a quick overhead swing. I expect it to simply jump straight for my exposed face.

Which it did, as foretold. What I failed to divine, instead, was my own inexperience... My tardiness!

The rat was already upon me by the time I managed to lift the bat above my head. Which, fortunately enough, positioned my left arm somewhere in the way between its teeth and my face. It hurts like a—you get the idea. But its position, dangling on my upper left arm gave me plenty of leverage enough to give the arm a twist and a drop right onto the concrete, slamming it hard onto the floor, followed by several increasingly violent smacks of my trusty security thingamajig.

DING.

Quickly glancing up to help the others. I see Henry finishing off his rat by using the umbrella tip to stab at it, as his girlfriend helps distract the creature. Ehh, either she's way better at all this fighting business than she's let on or that katana is truly something. Maybe both.

The brawl concluded. We—in silent agreement, hastily ran back through our housing's open gates and latched it close. Then made our way into their housing. Which is our usual hangout, as mine is a little smaller and further away from the garden where we like to do our little BBQs.

"Is everyone okay?" Asked Jennifer as we enter through the door, earning a lazy yes from Henry. "I managed to keep it away by opening and closing the umbrella as cover before you came to my rescue", he added.

"I got bit." I muttered my reply a little later, slow to register the conversation as I'm focused on getting a feel of my wound, hoping to spot the cause of my increasing pain. Without the high of combat to numb it down, it's starting to get unbeara—

"Zen?" Looking up, the couple had all four eyes on me. Whose voice it was did not even register on my mind. "Pain's getting worse". I rasped absentminded.

"His body is flushing out all the adrenaline coursing within, he's going i-to sho—"

"Zen, Ch-ck yo-r status". Instructed a calm voice, someone's palm plopped on my shoulder giving me a slight jolt, it helped clear some of the fog clouding my mind. "Breathe, you'll be fine". Henry, he always knows what he's talking about. I consciously inhaled a breath of air, already feeling a slight bit better.

Shhh—haaa. Breath in and out. Shhh—haaah.

…

'Status'.

DING.